This invention relates generally to aroma generators, and more particularly to an electrically-powered aroma percolator that includes a replaceable cartridge containing an aqueous solution of a volatile liquid fragrance.
As used herein, the term "aroma" is not limited to pleasant or savory smells, but encompasses scents that function as insecticides, air fresheners, deodorants, or ant other odor that acts to condition, or otherwise charge the atmosphere to modify the environment.
The aroma of perfumes and perfume-based products such as colognes and toilet waters was originally derived from the essential oils of plants. However, since the early 19th century, chemists have succeeded in analyzing many essential oils and in creating thousands of synthetics, some simulating natural products and others yielding altogether new scents. Perfumes today are largely blends of natural and synthetic scents and of fixatives which equalize vaporization and enhance pungency. In most liquid scents the ingredients are dissolved in alcohol.
Vaporization of an aroma-producing liquid which impregnates a porous carrier may be effected by the heat produced by an electric lamp or other heater elements. Thus the Evans U.S. Pat. No. 2,372,371 discloses a pad saturated with a liquid deodorant held in a small container mounted directly on a light bulb, the resultant heat penetrating the pad to volatilize the deodorant. Similar bulb-type heater arrangements are shown in the Gudeman, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,403,548; Schlesinger, 2,485,356; Diehl, 2,942,090 and Rosenthal, 1,706,639 patents.
Instead of impregnating a pad or other relatively large porous elements with an aromatic liquid, in the Locks et al. patent U.S. Pat. No. 2,618,892, the liquid is impregnated in small pieces of sponge material held within a flexible bulb. To extract the aroma, the bulb must be squeezed, no heat being used in this instance.
Aroma generators of the type heretofore known are incapable of exuding a fragrance at a high rate such as to quickly permeate a large area. Thus if an aroma generator of the Evans type were to be placed in a meeting hall or small auditorium, its fragrance would be fairly strong in the immediate vicinity of the generator but scarcely detectable elsewhere. Hence generators of this known type would have little effect in modifying the environment of a hall or other enclosure having a large atmospheric volume.
The need often arises for environmental odor control, as in a large meeting hall where the atmosphere may be rendered unpleasant because of crowded conditions, smoking and other odor-producing factors. Where the hall or chamber is air-conditioned, it is possible to introduce a deodorizer or fragrance into the stream of air flowing out of the conditioner. But this requires that the conditioner include this capability and that one has ready access thereto.
In the typical middle class home or apartment, it is not an uncommon practice on special occasions to burn incense or use other aroma generating means to modify the environment in a manner appropriate to prevailing conditions. But expedients for this purpose have very limited coverage; and if one wishes to transform the environment in a matter of minutes, this cannot be accomplished by existing aroma generators suitable for household use.
In my copending application, there is disclosed an aroma generator capable of wafting a fragrance into the atmosphere at a relatively high rate whereby the atmosphere of a large room or other enclosure may be quickly modified and rendered more agreeable. Use is made for this purpose of a percolator whose water container has a removable domed cap provided with vents.
The container is mounted on a base having an electrical heating element therein which when energized acts to boil the water in a well formed in the bottom of the container. Extending upwardly from the well is a tube which extends to a point below the dome of the cap. The tube passes through a basket having a perforated lid and bottom, the basket being filled with a charge of porous pellets impregnated with a volatile liquid fragrance. The basket is supported on the tube at a position in the container above the level of the water bath therein.
In operation, the boiling water rises in the tube to be ejected therefrom against the dome, the boiling water being deflected thereby to shower the perforated basket and percolate through the pellets therein before returning to the bath. The liquid fragrance in the pellets volatilizes to produce an aromatic vapor which is emitted into the atmosphere through the vents.
One practical difficulty with the percolator disclosed in the co-pending application is that the user, each time the unit is put to a fresh use, must fill the container with water and he must remove the basket to dispose of the exhausted pellets and place a fresh charge of pellets therein before putting the basket back in the container.
This procedure is not troublesome when the aroma generator is used in a home having a water supply and an adequate stock of impregnated pellets having different aromas for use with the generator. But in some situations, as when the generator is to be used in an auditorium or show room, one may have to take along a water supply and a substantial stock of pellets, and this may be inconvenient.
Moreover, the water in the container has liquid fragrance from the pellets added thereto when the generator operates, and when switching over to a new fragrance, one has to first carefully wash out the container to remove all traces of the old fragrance so that it does not contaminate the new fragrance; and this, too, is a complicating factor.